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Provincetown Schools

    LEARNING IN A PANDEMIC

    State Questions Provincetown Schools on Staying Shut

    Infant and toddler program is on recess after staff resignations

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion has received a letter from state Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley questioning her decision not to reopen the school for in-person education, despite the area’s very low Covid-19 infection rate.

    Meanwhile, the parents of infants and toddlers are scrambling because of the indefinite closure of the town’s Wee Care program.

    Riley’s letter, sent to 16 school districts in low-risk towns statewide, cited two reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics (Mass. chapter) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; both pointed to the importance of in-person school.

    “Death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults,” according to the CDC guidance that was sent to schools in July. “At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant.

    “Further, the lack of in-person educational options disproportionately harms low-income and minority children and those living with disabilities,” it continued. “These students are far less likely to have access to private instruction and care and far more likely to rely on key school-supported resources like food programs, special education services, counseling, and after-school programs to meet basic developmental needs.”

    The same letter went to Amesbury, Bourne, Boxford, East Longmeadow, Gardner, Pittsfield, West Springfield, Gill-Montague, Mohawk Trail-Hawlemont, Mohawk Trail, Belmont and Watertown, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter, Hoosac Valley Regional Schools, and Manchester Essex Regional Schools.

    For weeks, the state commissioner has been clear that districts in towns where the rates of new infections are under four per 100,000 should offer in-person learning if possible. Some schools in low-risk areas have continued to delay in-person instruction anyway. Riley wanted to know why. In his letter, he said each school had to submit plans for in-person learning within 10 days of the Sept. 18 letter.

    “Please note that your response may trigger an audit…,” he added.

    Return Is Limited

    Provincetown and all of Cape Cod remain in the lowest infection categories. Yet Scallion and the school committee have insisted on a slow reopening. While the school began remote lessons on Sept. 16, there were no solid plans to reopen in person until the Sept. 23 school committee meeting.

    Scallion said that when she was filling out the state paperwork she left blank the date to return in person because the school committee had not yet voted.

    On Sept. 23, the committee did vote to have students return to classrooms on Oct. 5. The younger students, in preschool through fifth grade, will be back in class four days a week. Their days, however, will end early, at 1:15 p.m., to accommodate buses that can transport only 22 students at a time, Scallion said.

    Middle-school students, in grades six through eight, will return just two days a week for half days, from 12 noon to 2:55 p.m. This is much less in-person school time than is offered in the Truro Central School and the Nauset Regional School District.

    Scallion said the decision to offer just half days for older children was prompted by a study she read “that indicates children 10 and over are significantly more vulnerable to the impact of the virus,” she said by email.

    Provincetown has plenty of space in each classroom to provide at least six feet of distance, as well as free masks donated by local seamstresses, Scallion told the Independent in August.

    All Provincetown students will get remote lessons on Wednesdays. And students were informed by Principal Tim Reynolds to bring coats, because the teachers will keep windows open whenever possible.

    Wee Care Won’t Reopen

    The news is worse for parents who are town employees or residents and who counted on the free Wee Care program for infants and toddlers.

    The infant program won’t reopen because two staff members resigned “due to the risk of exposure,” Scallion wrote. “We do not anticipate opening the toddler program during the pandemic due to the inability to have the young children wear masks and keep them safely distanced. We hope to reopen the infant program when we have infant teachers. We continue to work with the town on some alternatives.”

    Edgar Miranda, the director of the Early Learning Center that oversees the Wee Care and preschool programs, has resigned.

    “We are grateful for his time with us and respect his decision to put health and family first,” Scallion wrote by email.

    Jennifer Spoor and her husband, Provincetown Police Sgt. Kevan Spoor, counted on the infant and toddler program for their two children. She said she learned about the closing of the program and the staff resignations only when she inquired directly. There was no notice to families, leaving her little time to find alternatives.

    “I’ve hated feeling so pushy with our questions and concerns (since I’ve been on the other side), but I’ve gotten more information from your paper and articles than from the school,” Jennifer Spoor told the Independent on Monday.

    LEARNING AT A DISTANCE

    Scallion Plans ‘Hybrid/Outdoor’ and ‘In-person/Remote’

    Provincetown students will still not use classrooms

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Schools superintendent has penciled in the date of Oct. 5 for some students to return to school, but not inside the building.

    “We’re not going to jump into the hybrid that you see in [schools with] overcrowded classrooms,” said Supt. Suzanne Scallion on Sept. 9. “We’re going to do outdoors in small groups.”

    The school system started the year off remotely on Sept. 16. If Covid-19 infection rates stay low, a slow transition to in-person learning will go forward.

    Though the outdoor plan is still “in Jell-O” and requires teacher input, Scallion told the school committee she envisioned remote learning in the morning with some students coming to the school for lessons outside, starting on Oct. 5. That would “morph” into an after-school recreation program.

    The next step would be to invite all students back full-time — but still outdoors.

    “We have tents, Motta Field, and enthusiasm,” Scallion said.

    This outdoor phase could be called “hybrid/outdoor, or something,” she added.

    Eva Enos, the school committee chair who has agreed with Scallion’s plans so far, asked Scallion how to explain to the public the unusual child-care offering at the school.

    It allows for up to 25 students to be educated via computer in the gym. Adults would supervise them there, but their teachers would conduct the lessons from classrooms down the hall.

    If the kids are already in the building, why not just allow them back to the classrooms? Enos asked.

    “It’s not just child care,” Scallion said. “I like to think of it as in-person/remote learning.”

    Provincetown’s classrooms are large enough for six-foot distancing already. But the gym is much larger, she said. With 8,000 square feet and 30-foot ceilings, each child will have 400 square feet of personal space.

    “We’ll have blowers and fans on, and the doors open,” she said.—K.C. Myers

    SCREENS, NOT CLASSES

    Schools to Offer Child Care in Gym

    Former supt. criticizes remote learning plan for youngest students

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Twenty-five children of working parents will be offered free child care in the Provincetown Schools gym as part of the school administration’s plan for completely remote learning when the schools open later this month.

    On Aug. 28, Gov. Charlie Baker issued an executive order allowing the creation of partnerships between early education centers and schools that are doing remote learning. These partnerships are designed to help working parents and their children navigate the daunting realities of so-called virtual learning.

    The policy is designed in response to concerns arising from the school committee’s vote to require at-home learning for all preschool through eighth-grade students for two weeks beginning on Sept 16. Whether to stay remote or bring students back to classrooms will be revisited every two weeks, said Eva Enos, chair of the school committee.

    The plan has generated criticism primarily because the Provincetown Schools, with just 131 students from preschool through grade eight, serve many working families who cannot take time off to supervise remote learning.

    For almost half the students (49 percent), English is not their first language; 35 percent are from economically disadvantaged homes, according to the state Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.

    And 62 percent of the students have what the state terms “high needs,” that is, they have a combination of economic and learning challenges.

    In the neighboring Nauset district, serving Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster, high needs students will return to classes immediately in all grades. Nauset is also accepting all elementary school students in person, while the regional middle school is scheduled to begin in-person classes two days a week on Sept. 16.

    Nauset Regional High School announced a change of plans on Sept. 1, however. It will be teaching all students remotely, at least to start, rather than offering a hybrid plan.

    Louise Venden of the select board is among several townspeople who feel Provincetown, with a large building relative to the number of students, does not need to be as conservative as Nauset, especially given its demographics.

    Many Provincetown parents in the service industries don’t get paid unless they go to work, Venden said.

    Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion said she empathizes with working families. She had been compiling a list of child-care agencies, babysitters, and resources to pay for them, while not recommending any one agency. Parents can, she said, apply for funds to the John A. Henry Trust, which helps Provincetown Schools parents. Applications are available at the website of the Cape Cod Children’s Place.

    When Baker made his announcement about partnerships, Scallion immediately assigned three of the town-funded Wee Care, infant, toddler, and preschool program staff to supervise up to 25 students in the gym. The limit of 25 is based on the state’s guidance on how many can gather in an indoor space, Scallion said.

    The students will bring their portable electronic devices to school and work in the gym. They will have chances to play and interact with each other, staying 10 feet apart, Scallion said.

    Based on a first round of surveys and phone calls, Scallion estimated that 13 students needed child care, and another seven emerged in follow-up phone calls. A few slots will go to children of staff who will be teaching remotely, she said. There were still spaces left as of Aug. 31, she said.

    The child-care program will last as long as the remote learning model remains in place. Scallion said if the number of new Covid-19 cases remain low in this area, the school will move to a hybrid program, and then fully in person.

    But some, including former Provincetown Schools Supt. Beth Singer, think the remote plan is not necessary at all, especially for the youngest students.

    Singer, who lives in Wellfleet, said, “Little kids just cannot do remote learning and parents cannot be teachers. Why can’t we do something different for the youngest?”

    While some of its staff will be caring for school-age children, Provincetown’s Wee Care itself — an unusual free day-care program for infants and toddlers located in a separate building from the school — will remain closed until the school building reopens.

    Scallion said she is most worried about toddlers, for whom social distancing and mask-wearing will be challenging.

    Singer said that makes little sense, when child-care centers are reopening all over the Cape and the nation. Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham began accepting a limited number of kids on Aug. 31.

    About 40 percent of Provincetown’s students come through “school choice,” that is, they live in other towns, Scallion said.

    The fear of losing students to districts returning to classrooms immediately, however, should not guide policy, Singer said.

    “Decisions should never be made based on whether you gain or lose kids,” Singer said. “You make decisions on what’s good for kids.”

    The school committee unanimously supported a fully remote start to school.

    “The majority of our families are totally OK with it,” said Enos. “But there are three who did not agree. I’m really feeling good about the board’s decision.”

    LEARNING

    What Back to School Looks Like This Year

    Two school districts, two plans , and two unhappy families

    By

    After months of missed classes, child care, sports, and summer camps, the question of when children can return to school is a pressing concern for many Outer Cape families. High stress is one thing all these families have in common, and those headed by single working mothers face especially difficult choices.

    The Independent spoke with two such families this week; they told strikingly different stories.

    Staying Home From School

    Jeondre Higgins and Christine Winter
    Jeondre Higgins and his mother, Christine Wynter, of Eastham, want their needs as immigrants to be considered in back-to-school plans. (Photo courtesy Christine Wynter)

    Christine Wynter knows she should not leave her son, Jeondre Higgins, age 12, alone all day to navigate six hours of school on his iPad, but that’s what she is planning to do.

    “I play it out over and over in my mind,” said Wynter. “I’m a parent earning minimum wage. He needs supervision, and I work and I cannot afford child care. But it’s too dangerous to send him back. It’s a no-win situation.”

    Jeondre is a student at Nauset Regional Middle School. Wynter could send him to school five days a week starting Sept. 16, because he qualifies as an English language learner. All students with special needs have been invited to school for full-time in-classroom learning. Generally, other middle schoolers are invited to school for only two days a week and must learn remotely for three days.

    But Wynter, who is a home health aide in South Dennis, does not feel having Jeondre back in the classroom is safe for him or for the people she works with. Jeondre has asthma, and she works with the elderly. So, while she knows school can provide a supportive environment for her children while she’s at work, right now, she says, she cannot take advantage of that.

    Wynter says others in the Jamaican community face similar complications when it comes to the reopening of school. Many earn minimum wage and have inadequate health insurance.

    “The solution is that schools need to devise a strategy to focus on us, who are scared to go back and cannot stay at home with our children,” Wynter said.

    Wynter said the Nauset district does not seem to have any representation of the immigrant community on its planning committees.

    No Nauset administrators responded to the Independent’s inquiry about diversity on school planning committees. Cindy Horgan, executive director of the nonprofit Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham, who represents early education and child-care groups on the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force, said, “I’m going to be honest with you. I know a lot of providers, and there is nobody from the Jamaican community on any of the calls I am on.”

    Living With More Fear

    Wynter and her son live at the Village at Nauset Green, the recently opened affordable housing development in Eastham, where there also happen to be three other children entering seventh grade at Nauset with Jeondre. Wynter’s nephew, Dontae Mcinnis, 11, also just moved in with her. Why, asks Wynter, could the school not help them form a pod or small learning group, with a teacher or support staff coming to them?

    “You need to look at the most vulnerable and say how can we help them?” she said.

    According to a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by Consumer Reports in July, 57 percent of black and 52 percent of Latino parents think that schools should remain closed and that children should begin the school year taking classes online, compared with 25 percent of white Americans.

    In separate interview research, Consumer Reports found that the reasons for the disparity include the knowledge that Covid-19 has disproportionately affected black and brown people and a lack of faith that safety protocols can be enforced in school.

    Wynter came to the U.S. years ago and got a master’s degree in education from Central Connecticut State University. She then returned to Jamaica and taught there for a few years, before coming with Jeondre to Cape Cod as he was starting fourth grade.

    She said at first, Jeondre struggled, and not just with a new culture and a new education system. At Eastham Elementary School, Jeondre said, the boys would gang up on him and play jokes on him, such as making up the names of places and then laughing when he thought they were real.

    He excels in soccer, and maybe the boys felt threatened by a Jamaican who could play better than they could, Jeondre said.

    His mother said Jeondre reads constantly, far above his grade level, but he had a hard time in elementary school. In middle school, however, a counselor in English language learning, Reva Blau, really helped, Wynter said.

    But, she said, the pandemic threw everything off. Left at home all day starting in March, Jeondre did about 20 percent of his work. He’s bright, his mom said, but disorganized, and the remote learning was just poor. It could take hours to work out the technological glitches and get the students focused on Zoom.

    Meanwhile, Jeondre watched a lot of television news about coronavirus; it terrified him to the point where he had to be coaxed even to go outdoors, she said.

    Complicating the family’s decision, Jeondre himself would like to be back in class.

    “Going back is risky,” he said, “but I think we should go back because I’ll get too far behind.” 

    Third Grade Online

    Janine Robichaud and her daughter, Riley.
    Janine Robichaud and her daughter, Riley, live in Eastham, but Riley goes to Provincetown Schools. The family is wary of online schooling. (Photo K.C. Myers)

    Riley Robichaud, 8, has always loved school. That is, until she had to do it remotely.

    She described online learning this way: “Whenever it’s three hours, it feels like 10,000 hours.”

    This spring, remote learning was instituted five days a week for three hours a day at the Provincetown Schools, said her mother, Janine Robichaud of Eastham.

    The online learning was a “horror show” right from the beginning, said Robichaud, “and never really got any better.”

    There would be kids crying, hiding from the camera, and turning their screens upside down, she said. Parents could be heard yelling in the background, leading to more tears and more disruptions.

    This lasted through the entire spring, Robichaud said, but like most parents, she and her daughter held on.

    As the summer progressed and the case numbers stayed low, she felt certain the students would be able to return to classes at least at the elementary level, like the schools in the Nauset district.

    Then came the email from Supt. Suzanne Scallion saying that computer-based home learning will continue even for the youngest children for at least the first two weeks of school, and possibly longer, based on data and research.

    “I have not been stressed out this whole time until I got that email,” said Robichaud. “I’m a single mom who has to work full-time. I was not meant to be a teacher. That’s not my specialty. The only time we ever fight is when it’s time to go on Zoom.”

    Life Without a Favorite Teacher

    Robichaud thought immediately of the teacher who all Provincetown students look forward to in third grade: Mr. Shannon.

    Eric Shannon is “everything you want a teacher to be,” she said. “He cares about the kids. He is just so great. I’ve heard nothing but fabulous things.” The idea of her daughter not getting Mr. Shannon in person is almost too much to bear, she said.

    Robichaud grew up in Provincetown, graduated from Provincetown High School, and then raised her own family in town. Riley attended the town’s Wee Care infant and toddler program. Even when Robichaud found a better place to live in Eastham, she gladly made the effort to keep Riley in the Provincetown Schools.

    “They are so in tune with every kid, and with eight to nine kids in each class, the kids really get one-on-one attention,” she said.

    But now, she is considering sending Riley to Eastham Elementary, where students will attend in person starting Sept. 16.

    “Maybe that’s just an empty threat,” she added. “But I have to go to work. This could kill the school.”

    Provincetown Schools must keep its enrollment up. There are only 131 students; many come from other districts via school choice. Scallion said the school gained 11 news students over the summer and that the new families want the strict remote learning model. But those gains could be lost with parents like Robichaud, who want the opposite.

    LEARNING

    Outermost Schools to Start With 2 Weeks at Home

    Supt. Scallion cites fear of visitors bringing virus

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Citing fears about tourists bringing the coronavirus here and the large number of parents who are hospitality workers, the Provincetown Schools administration has opted for the most conservative re-opening plan of any local school district.

    All children in preschool through 8th grade, the highest grade in the district, will be educated remotely for at least the first two weeks of school, and possibly longer. A decision on when to go back in person will be based on “data” — not just the numbers of local Covid-19 cases but reports and studies published in “respected medical journals,” said Supt. Suzanne Scallion on Aug. 12.

    The first day of remote schooling will be Wednesday, Sept. 16. After the first two weeks, a “phased reopening” will be based on information from scientific sources, Scallion said.

    All these plans, she added, could change at any time.

    Provincetown’s plan contrasts with what most other Cape Cod school districts have announced. Most have said elementary students will return to classes or have set a date for them to do so in the first month of school. (The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday a significant number of districts switching to all-remote schooling in recent days.)

    Provincetown’s plan is most like Bourne’s, where school officials expect to transition from two weeks of remote schooling to a hybrid model within eight weeks, according to the Cape Cod Times. It also goes against the guidance of Gov. Charlie Baker and Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey C. Riley, who recommended that towns with low levels of new cases of Covid-19 opt for brick-and-mortar classroom sessions.

    In the state’s new Covid-19 color-coding system, All of Cape Cod, except for Barnstable and Falmouth, were coded white as of Aug. 17, that is, having the lowest number (five or fewer) of cases. In a press conference on Aug. 11, Baker said he “cannot imagine a reason why schools in towns color-coded white or green would not return to in-person classes.”

    But the Provincetown School Committee was unanimous in supporting a slow return to in-person learning.

    “We have literally hundreds if not thousands of daily visitors” coming by ferry and car, and they are bringing all their contacts, Scallion told the committee on Aug. 12.

    She said the state is not doing enough testing, which makes Baker’s color map unreliable. Scallion warned committee members that they will be “bombarded” by opinions and criticism but “we will have to be guided by our moral compass,” she said.

    About half the students in the district are students of color; they are at much higher risk than white students, Scallion said.

    Jeffrey Slater, the school’s director of special education, thanked the school committee for having safety in mind “and the unique position Provincetown is in … with multiple ferry boats and day-trippers and so many of our families are involved in the hospitality industry. I really appreciate the focus on safety.”

    Not everyone, however, is pleased. Helena Ferreira, a teacher in the Provincetown Schools, said her daughter, an incoming kindergartner, has “zero computer skills.”

    The kindergarten class will consist of 10 students, in a classroom with a private bathroom and a sink, Ferreira said.

    “And I am an ELL [English language learner] teacher in Provincetown, and I’m advocating for these kids as well,” she said.

    She described how online learning is plagued with glitches that parents are unable to solve.  Many young English language learners tend to be responsible for even younger siblings, which compromises their own ability to focus. Ferreira teaches reading, which, she said, is extremely difficult to teach remotely.

    Scallion said, “I know parents are very anxious to get their kids back to school. I am living that.”

    But, she added, the in-school model won’t be a return to normal anyway; the same sorts of social interactions won’t be happening.

    “I know that kids won’t be entering the school they left,” Scallion said.

     

    REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

    Covering Schools Can Make You Batty

    By

    On Aug. 6, when the Nauset Regional School Committee met with all four elementary school committees in the district, nearly 100 people were on the Zoom meeting. That’s the size of some town meetings. Only there was no public participation allowed. The time was needed for questions from the school committee members, and, believe me, they were numerous.

    Everyone sat for almost four hours while plans were unveiled and vetted for elementary, middle, and high schools. Then, just a week later, Nauset Regional Middle School Principal Julie Kobold changed the plan. Instead of returning to classrooms on Sept. 16, the middle school would follow a “hybrid” plan, with students in the building two days per week. That’s the same — currently — as the high school’s plan.

    It was somehow symbolic when a bat found its way into Eastham Town Hall midway through the meeting. It flew in panicked circles around the school administrators.

    When at long last the meeting ended, my two high-school-age daughters and three of their friends peppered me with questions: What about lunch and MCAS? How will the students be divided into cohorts? Have the teachers mastered Google Classroom? They want to know what in-person education will be like as much as they want to know what the quality of virtual instruction will be.

    When I said I didn’t have many answers, they couldn’t believe all that time yielded so few details.

    The truth is, details were in short supply. What the adults had talked about all that time were a lot of what-ifs, especially what if a case of Covid were to be found at school? There were a lot of arguments against returning to classrooms full-time, and there were not many answers.

    Supt. Tom Conrad said decisions about staying open or going remote will be guided by the number of cases in the community. But that’s clearly not the only factor, because Barnstable County’s consistently low number of cases didn’t stop Kobold from reversing course.

    In Provincetown, which of all the Cape’s districts has the most space for students to keep a safe distance from each other, the administration has pushed off a return to the classroom until at least the end of September. That decision, says Supt. Suzanne Scallion, will be based on research published in medical journals.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that social distancing, hand washing, disinfecting, cohorting (separating into groups), and community case data should guide decisions to return to work and to school.

    There is talk of data. But our emotions are on edge. It’s becoming clear that no matter how long we talk, what we are doing is guesswork. The bat is not the only creature flying around in panicked circles.

     

    LEARNING

    No Word Yet on How School Will Work

    Alongside fear, there’s also ‘a strong desire to get back to the classroom’

    By

    A group of anonymous women have sewn two masks for every Provincetown student for their return to school in September. But whether students will actually come back to wear them in classrooms this fall remains to be seen.

    As in nearly every other district in Massachusetts, the Nauset Regional District (which includes Eastham and Wellfleet), Provincetown, and Truro school administrators are still each finalizing three separate plans to send to the state Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). One plan is to open the schools fully; one is to stay with the “distance learning” that’s been happening since March; and the third is a hybrid of the first two.

    Buses at Nauset Regional Middle School
    The bus fleet at Nauset Regional Middle School last week stood disinfected and ready for action. (Photo K.C. Myers)

    For leaders, preparations range from scrambling to measure classrooms to see if there are three (the minimum allowed by the state) to six feet between desks and waiting to receive shipments of hand sanitizer for each classroom. They are considering an opening that starts with 14 days of at-home learning followed by a return to the buildings, along with many other scenarios, said Provincetown Supt. Suzanne Scallion.

    Meanwhile, parents are waiting to find out if they will need to find babysitters, enhance their internet access at home, or allow their kids to return to schools.

    And everyone is trying to watch the Covid-19 case numbers.

    No Answers

    Schools will be finalizing plans to send to DESE by the first week of August, but decisions will probably remain tentative up to the last minute, Scallion said.

    “Everyone is anxious for answers, but there aren’t any,” said Erika Meads, a Wellfleet parent of two elementary children, who served on an impromptu task force that met once virtually with Nauset Supt. Thomas Conrad about re-opening plans.

    Here is what administrators do know at this point.

    Provincetown Schools, and the Truro and Wellfleet elementary schools, have the space to bring back all of their students with six-foot distancing, according to Scallion.

    Truro and Provincetown also have enough staff to make it happen, even if it means dividing classes, according to both Scallion and Truro Supt. Michael Gradone. As for the rest of the Nauset district, Conrad, with responsibility for the elementary, middle, and high schools from Wellfleet to Brewster, did not return calls for comment.

    Administrators also know this: “distance” or “virtual” learning is hardest on students with disabilities.

    “We have always said there are kids you could put in a closet and they’d figure out how to read,” Gradone said. “But for those who struggle in school with a teacher every day, leaving them at home only makes it that much harder.”

    Online learning also puts students with economic challenges farther behind, a fact that so worries one Nauset Regional Middle School teacher that she is forming a nonprofit, the Kings and Queens Fund, to provide mentors for any student who needs one. Reva Blau of Wellfleet, the teacher starting the fund, said she is particularly aiming to support English language learners (ELL), immigrants, and the children of the working poor.

    “There is no way you’re learning at your full potential if it’s remote learning,” Blau said. “So for any of us, it’s a struggle. Whether you are working at home or outside the home, remote learning brings enormous pressure. As an ELL teacher, I witnessed my kids go through all this with the difference being most of their parents were essential workers, so they were alone at home with no other adult to connect with for hours each day.”

    One survey of Provincetown Schools parents found that only 25 percent of respondents did not want students to return to school at all in September, Scallion said.

    Conrad, in a video update posted online, said, “There is a strong desire to find a way for kids to come back in the buildings.” He said “there is a distinct possibility” children will return to classrooms. “That’s not final,” said Conrad, “but possible.”

    Gradone said, given the fact that Truro Central School has the staff and the space, he’s leaning towards reopening if the virus remains under control and there is no new research saying that kids shouldn’t come back to school.

    It’s clearly good for kids socially, emotionally, and instructionally, he said.

    Yet each school head is grappling with how to provide both types of instruction, virtual and in-person, since no matter what schools decide to do, some families will keep their students at home.

    Scallion said all options will be available at her schools, but just how it works is the challenge. She is talking with her teachers’ union about videotaping classes for those at home to follow. But this could be a problem for teachers whose every word could then be shared on the internet.

    Another big issue for school leaders is busing. Provincetown Schools bring children from as far away as Orleans, Scallion said. She is considering adding more trips to keep the buses less full, which will mean some students could have shorter days.

    There is a shortage of bus drivers even in a normal year, so finding more drivers and vehicles will be extremely difficult. Gradone is asking Truro Central School parents to consider driving their kids, if possible.

    DESE is advising that each child take up one whole seat on the bus (unless sitting with a sibling.)

    Lunches will likely be served in classrooms rather than in the cafeteria.

    “I think we’ll see people’s fear and we’ll have to deal with that,” Scallion said. “This is a very difficult time in America.”

    How to get your questions to district leaders

    • The Provincetown School Committee will review three plans, virtual, in school, or a hybrid, at a school committee meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 5 (no time scheduled). Send questions to [email protected].
    • Truro Central School has set up a dedicated email account for questions about reopening:[email protected].
    • Nauset Regional District: Send questions and comments to Supt. Tom Conrad: [email protected].

     

     

     

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Provincetown

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.

    Wednesday, Aug. 5

    • Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.

    Thursday, Aug. 6

    • Board of Assessors, 9 a.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of July 28, Provincetown had one active case of the coronavirus, 29 cases considered recovered, and one death.

    Salary Bump for Superintendent

    Suzanne Scallion was hired as superintendent of the Provincetown Schools in May 2019 to work three days a week for $60,000 from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2019, and then $60,000 for all 12 months of 2020.

    But the school committee agreed in March to pay her an additional $512.82 for every extra day she worked so that she could help the schools adjust to the online learning and other challenges presented by the pandemic.

    So far, she has worked 21 extra days for a total of $10,769, which can be covered by CARES Act funds, said Scallion this week.

    Scallion said the job was already nonstop but the pandemic has amped up the challenges for school leaders.

    Wait Times for Test Results Too Long

    Board of health chair Steven Katsurinis told the select board Monday that the plans for keeping the town safe during a pandemic relied on quicker test results than are currently available, as the medical labs are overwhelmed.

    “We did not expect to wait for seven days for a test return,” Katsurinis said. “Quest Diagnostics is inundated and so we are trying to do something to improve that.”

    On the other hand, he said, the town had made it more than 20 days past a busy July 4th weekend without any apparent outbreak.

    “But we should not let our guard down,” Katsurinis said. “As long as there is a pandemic, we are at risk. So we need to wear masks and keep six-foot distancing.”

    Rapid tests, available at Carewell Urgent Care in Dennis, are not as accurate as the molecular tests, which are now taking a week or more to get results, said Morgan Clark, director of the health department.

    Paradigm Associates Not Rehired

    Community Paradigm Associates of Plymouth, the consulting firm used to help the select board hire Robin Craver as town manager, was not picked to be part of the hiring process this time around.

    Craver resigned after six months at the end of her probationary period on July 10 following a closed select board meeting. The reasons for her abrupt resignation were not made public.

    The select board Monday chose four “headhunter” organizations to pick from and Paradigm was not one of them. The executive search firms invited to submit bids are Municipal Resources Inc., the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management, Groux-White Consulting, and Isaacson Miller.

    The board members agreed not to rush this decision and will hire an interim manager for the next six months while they look for a new permanent town manager —K.C. Myers

     

     

     

    BACCALAUREATES

    Fourteen Graduate from Middle Years I.B. Program

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Fourteen eighth-grade students celebrated their completion of the Provincetown Schools International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program on June 22.

    They walked down the front steps of the school, past the flags of staff and students’ countries of origin, including the Czech Republic, Honduras, Jamaica, Portugal, and the United States to receive their certificates of promotion and congratulations from their teachers. Intercultural understanding is a focus of the curriculum.

    According to school librarian Susan Heinz, 10 of the graduates will attend Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in the fall: Nelly Cruz, Jayden Davis, Aalyah Devasto, Kirstan Fay, Khalil Green, Axel Holmberg, Kiara Reeves, Jack Rhodes, Jemone Rose, and Rushawn White. Four plan to go to Nauset Regional High School: Maddy Enos, Carlos Maldonado, Ella Notaro, and Wyatt Vida.

    For more photos, see www.provincetownindependent.org.

    Aalyah Devasto.
    Jemone Rose.
    Kiara Reeves.
    Maddy Enos.
    Wyatt Vida.
    Carlos Maldonado.
    Khalil Green.
    Nelly Cruz
    Ella Notaro.
    Axel Holmberg.

    THEATER COMPANIES

    Wellfleet Theaters Postpone Live Shows Till 2021

    Provincetown companies likely to follow

    By

    WELLFLEET — After the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater announced on May 5 that it was postponing its entire 2020 season of productions until 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the smaller, artist-run Harbor Stage Company followed suit on May 11.

    “Given the current dangers of the Covid-19 outbreak, we just can’t bring ourselves to put our audiences or artists at risk,” wrote Harbor Stage co-founder Brenda Withers in an email to subscribers.

    WHAT had earlier put forward a schedule of four plays and one musical from June 12 through Oct. 18, while the Harbor Stage held off announcing the three summer productions it was planning.

    Empty seats at Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet. (Photo courtesy Robert Kropf)

    Both the Provincetown Theater and the Peregrine Theatre Ensemble have not yet announced the fate of their seasons as a whole, though some productions have been postponed and both companies acknowledge the insurmountable obstacles going forward with live indoor theater under current conditions.

    Elsewhere on the Cape, the Cape Playhouse in Dennis announced that it would postpone its entire 2020 season until the following year.

    Christopher Ostrom, WHAT’s executive and artistic director, told the Independent why WHAT chose to postpone before the announcement of state guidelines on reopening.

    “We convened a crisis task force and concluded that no matter when the lockdown was lifted, it would be incredibly difficult to do any production, knowing the lead time to get to opening night,” Ostrom said.

    In calculating the capacity of WHAT’s 212-seat Julie Harris Stage under an all-but-certain social distancing directive, “We figured that the maximum was 30 seats,” Ostrom continued. “We also had to look at what the rehearsal process would be like. There were so many variables that were outside our control. What if someone coughs in the middle of the performance?”

    Another factor is where actors and staff would live. “We own a house that houses about half our company,” Ostrom said. “They share bathrooms and kitchens. We wondered if people would be doing that so soon.”

    Despite WHAT’s recently improved financial position, the pandemic makes survival that much more difficult. “I took a pay cut just to get us through,” Ostrom said. “We did get [PPP] funding. And 85 percent of subscribers either donated instead of a refund or paid it forward. That was an overwhelming gesture of generosity.”

    Over at the Harbor Stage, located in WHAT’s former home, Robert Kropf, co-founder and artistic director among equals, said in an email, “We realized we’d have to do an abridged season but were holding out hope for one play, later in the summer. As a small operation, we felt we could pivot pretty quickly.”

    Social distancing was decisive. “With only 90 seats, reduced seating is not really an option at the Harbor,” Kropf said. “Ticket sales are really a lifeline for us.”

    In the end, he added, “There were just too many unknowns, and our first priority is the safety and health of our patrons, collaborators, and the company.”

    David Drake, artistic director of the Provincetown Theater, told the Independent the reason he hasn’t postponed his entire season is that “we have nothing in place to answer to our subscribers. We’re investigating some other things. We’re exploring outdoor possibilities. A friend sent me a Zoom play. I’ve got a number of irons on the fire right now. Thank God, we’ve established year-round continuity at our theater. I feel we have enough of an audience that will follow us where we’ll need to be.”

    Drake noted that he’s postponed his spring show, Mae West’s The Drag, to the fall, and his June-July world premiere, Sarah Schulman’s The Lady Hamlet, till 2021. The reason for postponements instead of cancellations, he said, is that rights have already been paid for, and commitments made.

    “Meanwhile,” Drake added, “we’ll continue doing Mosquito Story Slams once a month and having these ‘community conversations’ with David Wilson through the end of June.”

    The Peregrine Theatre Ensemble usually puts on one musical production for the whole summer at Fishermen Hall, the auditorium at Provincetown Schools. The show is performed by a company of rising young actors, many right out of school, who need to be housed. The company has not yet announced what they’ll be doing or if they will cancel.

    Adam Berry, a Peregrine co-founder and executive director, said, “If I had a building of my own, I’d have made a decision about what to do. I applaud WHAT for taking the initiative and setting an example, by doing what is right for their community and right for their organization.”

    Peregrine, like the Provincetown Theater, has plans to offer virtual entertainment. Ostrom, when asked about a virtual season, said, “We lack the resources to pivot that way effectively. But we’re keeping our options open.”

    Kropf, of the Harbor Stage, said, “For now, as things shift and settle, we remain eager and ready to jump back on the ship — whatever that looks like and whenever that is. I’ve been summering in Wellfleet and working in that beautiful, banged-up building for 20 years. It means everything. It’s a fight.”

    MIDDLE SCHOOL MORNINGS

    From the Daily Journals of Provincetown Students

    Fears for family, but also gratitude and peace

    By

    For the first 10 minutes of each school day, the Provincetown Schools Middle Years students — grades six, seven, and eight —write in their journals about their experiences living through the coronavirus crisis that is keeping them at home. Their English language arts teacher, Amy Rokicki, offers brief prompts to get their thoughts and words flowing. Here, with the students’ and parents’ permissions, are samples of their morning reflections. —K.C. Myers

    Anger

    I can’t get angry at a time like this, because this gives me more time to play my video games and spend time in my bed, also spend time with family. Being angry just makes it worse. By being angry you will do less thinking. Less thinking will make you do stupid stuff. —Rushawn White, grade 8

     

    Gratefulness

    Last week I was grateful for my parents. I couldn’t ask for better parents. They always try to work hard and take care of each other and my sister and me. My parents barely get a moment to themselves, especially with a boy who’s turning 14 this Saturday and 4-year-old girl who WILL NOT STOP MAKING NOISE FOR TWO SECONDS. It’s near impossible to get my dad to stop working even for half a second, and my mom always pushes me to do better. She’s the glue and my dad’s the foundation, she holds us together and he holds us up. —Khalil Green, grade 8


    Gratefulness

    Last week I was grateful for being in my bed all day, texting and making new friends. This quarantine has been an eye opener. I’ve got time to think about stuff that has been going on in my life more deeply. It’s not that I really enjoy quarantine, but we’ve got to make time for ourselves sometimes. People on a daily basis forget about themselves, but this quarantine is forcing them to try. I was grateful for things like understanding myself a little bit better. What I mean by that is, relationship-wise and things that I’m interested in. Things that I don’t want to do or be. —Jemone Rose, grade 8

     

    Peace

    Moving

    Praying

    Tocante

    See Mr. C
    Smell roasted meat

    Hear wind
    Feel bike chain oil

    Taste roasted meat

    Think going to Honduras

    —Ronaldo Espinosa, grade 7

     Happiness

    I kind of love “coronacation,” because it’s also bringing my family close together because we are home together every day so we kind of have to be. I love making TikToks with them. I love being in the living room and having laughs and watching movies. I love how if and when we go back to school, I don’t have to be fake anymore. I can be me and express myself. I can’t wait ’til it’s summer so my family can go to the pond like we always do, plus with the babies this time. And in August my brother turns one. I’m happy that at least now I can learn at home and teach myself stuff that my dad wants me to learn. I can’t wait to see all my friends again. —Toni-Anne Fraser, grade 7

    Fear

    I fear that I’ll get it and spread it to my mom and Wyatt. Since he has heart problems, he is more capable of getting it and my mom is not really elderly but she could still get it and die. I fear that we will not be able to go to school for a really long time. I fear that I am going to die and my family, too. I also fear that I am going to have a crappy birthday and not be able to go go-karting that I want to do really bad. —Andres Vida, grade 6

     

    Fear

    I am afraid about how this is so uncertain with tons of fake news and conspiracy theories and I am afraid about how this will end. Also, I know that it is human nature to be afraid of the uncertain, which is probably why we have conspiracy theories. —Jack Hopkins, grade 6

     

     

    EXTRA CREDIT

    Schools, at a Distance, Diverge in Use of Grades

    But all are focused on keeping kids engaged

    By

    The Provincetown Public Schools and the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich both have middle school programs, but they have taken different approaches to grading since the schools were shut down in March.

    Both schools have the same primary goal, to protect students’ well-being in a pandemic.

    But Provincetown has maintained its system of grades, while Lighthouse switched to a credit-noncredit assessment method.

    “We must take care of the social and emotional health of our kids,” said Paul Niles, Lighthouse’s executive director.

    The charter school’s move away from grades is also being used by the Nauset Regional School District. But Provincetown administrators stand by their plan.

    “Our mantra is our school building is closed but school is open,” said Provincetown Principal Timothy Reynolds. “This is a third of our school year, so if we want them moving forward, they have to be engaged. So we are grading.”

    Lighthouse students must complete and pass 70 percent of their assignments to receive credit for their third trimester, which began March 13. The school has established multiple safety nets for students in difficult circumstances.

    If a student has not done 70 percent of the assigned work, that triggers an administrative review, in which teachers come up with a plan to get the student over the hump.

    “Maybe it’s summer work, maybe we sit down and look at the work the student did and the circumstances they were under and say, you know what, this was enough, we can give them a credit,” Niles said.

    One reason for the school’s forgiving system is its special needs students. Out of 240 total students at Lighthouse, about 100 need special direction or extra contact, Niles said.

    About 50 students are on an individualized education plan.

    Provincetown deals with similar demographics and shares the goal of accommodating every student’s unique circumstances, but it is using grades for middle schoolers as a way to connect with students and ensure participation.

    Provincetown’s International Baccalaureate program assesses work on a scale from one, the worst, to seven, the best.

    “We found, when we implemented this for our middle years program, student participation and efforts did increase,” said Reynolds.

    The school has made tweaks to accommodate for virtual learning, a major one being that students will automatically receive a five for attendance, and a five for completing work.

    Students can get on the honor roll with a five or higher, so by just showing up and submitting work, they will be honor students.

    “It has been working amazingly well for some kids,” said English teacher Amy Rokicki. “Some kids have really kicked in. They love it, and are doing every assignment really well.”

    About 62 percent of the school’s students are “high needs” — meaning they have a combination of economic, language, and learning issues — and 35 percent are classified as economically disadvantaged, according to the state Dept. of Education.

    “A number of our students have significant responsibilities, caring for as many as three younger siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc., daily while parents are at work, mostly in food service and health-care roles,” Rokicki said.

    Provincetown Supt. Suzanne Scallion told her teachers that she is most concerned about the high-risk kids, and that a driving factor for continued grading is to give those kids an incentive to keep coming to school and growing as students.

    Cape Cod Regional Technical High School has developed a hybrid grading system, encouraging students to perform well while not punishing them for circumstances out of their control, said Principal Billy Terranova.

    The school is assigning grades of either A+, A, or B to assignments, but still giving a credit/noncredit mark at the end of the semester.

    That way, students have the option to incorporate certain grades into their overall GPA if they choose.

    Chris Ellssaser, principal of Nauset Regional High School, is going with the credit, no credit model.

    “With GPAs and all of that, colleges will look at this as an anomaly,” he said.

     

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Provincetown

    By

    Covid-19 Update

    As of May 4, 2020, Provincetown had one confirmed active case of coronavirus and one death from complications related to Covid-19; 26 additional cases were considered recovered and had been cleared from quarantine by the public health nurse.

    Mask Order: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

    The same day the Provincetown Select Board’s face mask order for the downtown area of Commercial Street went into effect, Gov. Charlie Baker made a statewide mandate of his own, that starting May 6 everyone wear a face covering if they cannot stay six feet from others, including in interior spaces, until May 18.

    So on May 4, the select board rescinded its order and adopted the governor’s with one addition: everyone on Commercial Street between Bangs and Pleasant streets from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. must wear a mask, whether they are pedestrians or on a bike, skateboard, or motorcycle.

    Noncriminal penalties will be enforced by the police. There will be a written warning for first-time offenders and then fines of $100 for a second offense, $200 for a third offense, and $300 for a fourth offense. These fines mirror those imposed by the governor’s office.

    Survey on Summer

    The Provincetown Recovery Coalition is surveying town residents of town, as well as people who work in town or send their children to the Provincetown schools. It’s on the town’s website until May 11, and at surveymonkey.com/r/ptownrecovery.

    The coalition was created to plan a phased reopening of the town following two months of a stay-at-home order and the closure of nonessential businesses. Its meetings are not public.

    The social services team within the coalition, led by Provincetown Health Director Morgan Clark, HOW Executive Director Gwynne Guzzeau, and AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod CEO Dan Gates, created the survey to understand the thoughts and needs of those who live and/or work in Provincetown, and to get feedback on how people would like see the next few months unfold.

    No West End Sailing Club

    The West End Racing Children’s Community Sailing 2020 program has been canceled by Covid-19. The board made the decision last week to cancel the program, which began in the 1950s, for the safety of the approximately 150 children who learn to sail there each year, said Susan Avellar, one of two instructors who have run the program for over three decades.

    Avellar said she is “distraught and devastated,” but Harwich and Nantucket also canceled sailing lessons for 2020 and it seemed the best course of action.

    The West End racing program will reopen in 2021. —K.C. Myers

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Provincetown

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    All meetings are held remotely. To watch a meeting go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Follow the link to the agenda for instructions on how to watch or participate.

    Thursday, April 30

    • Water & Sewer Board, 2 p.m.

    Tuesday, May 5

    • Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, May 6

    • Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.

    Thursday, May 7

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Coronavirus Update

    As of April 27, Provincetown had two confirmed active cases of coronavirus, one death, and 25 additional cases considered recovered.

    Seashore Point Has No Positive Tests

    As of April 27, testing for the coronavirus at the Outer Cape’s only long-term care facility has found no positive cases among residents or staff at Seashore Point’s nursing home, Advinia Care, said David Ball, a company spokesman.

    Advinia Care is owned by the Pointe Group, which also owns the Pleasant Bay Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Brewster, where 60 of 92 residents tested positive in three rounds of testing at the facility, according to an April 20 report by the town of Brewster.

    Town Clerk Moves to the Schools

    Darlene Van Alstyne, the town clerk for the last three years, will be leaving her job to become the administrative assistant to Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion.

    Her last day is April 30, she said.

    Van Alstyne was the town’s licensing agent for six years and the assistant town clerk for four before becoming town clerk when Doug Johnstone retired.

    Assistant Town Clerk Ana Ruiz will run the office until a replacement is hired.

    “It’s a tough job, but it’s really fun to do,” Van Alstyne said. “Putting together the elections is a lot of work, but come election day, it’s the funnest day of the year.”

    She’s also a fan of the hand-crank ballot box and hopes Provincetown sticks to hand-counting, even though all other Cape Cod towns have decided to use electronic tabulators.

    “People really enjoy coming in, touching that paper, and hearing that ding,” she said. —K.C. Myers

    ESSENTIAL KINDNESS

    Social Distance Makes Hearts Grow Fonder

    Concern for grocery workers, and for those who need groceries

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Many studies have shown that acts of kindness cause the brain to release calming and happiness-boosting hormones. Psychologists say the result can feel like a runner’s high.

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